Pulaski County’s deputy judge-executive said his county was devastated by the May 16th tornado, but his fellow citizens are “pretty tough people” and the recovery is going well. Jeff Wilson said one person was killed and about 100 homes damaged, half of them destroyed. He said local clean-up efforts include free composting and storm debris drop-offs.
“We have trailers, insulation, metal, you know, as of right now, we're just taking it free from the people, and we're also doing all we can to haul it in and clean up right of ways and everything like that.”
Pulaski County is one of six in Kentucky approved for individual assistance from FEMA, but Wilson said workers are sometimes met with skepticism by the people they’re trying to help – despite local education efforts.
“We did lots of advertisements, put up signs and be careful, you know. Know who you're dealing with, because you have people coming in, these people's already lost everything they have, and you've got scammers trying to take them for another ride, you know?”
Wilson said assistance from other parts of Kentucky is helping, including 60 truckloads of storm debris taken to the drop-off site by the Lee County Road Department.
